Get closer to Johannes Vermeer with Stephen Fry

February 2, 2023 7:47 PM

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, in collaboration with the Mauritshuis in The Hague, has organized a blockbuster exhibition this spring featuring the paintings of Johannes Vermeer—the largest ever—bringing together 25 of the 34 works that can be firmly attributed to the Dutch Golden Age master, whose paintings are rarely loaned out from the lucky handful of collections that possess them. Three additional works with disputed attribution will also be included, following a recent and somewhat controversial authentication by Rijksmuseum curators [previously]. Despite record-breaking ticket sales and extended museum hours, countless Vermeer enthusiasts won’t be able to attend. Fortunately for them the museum has also commissioned a virtual exhibition featuring ultra high resolution photos of Vermeer’s paintings. Click on a thumbnail to peruse specific works on your own, or take an in-depth guided tour with your choice of docent: Stephen Fry (in English) or Joy Delima (in Dutch).
posted by theory (17 comments total)

It's worth clicking on the individual paintings too, as there's much additional information about details and historical background which isn't mentioned in the guided tour.
posted by theory at 8:03 PM on February 2, 2023

All day in a museum with Stephen Fry? Yes, please.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:43 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

I knew this was out there but I didn't know Stephen Fry was the voice. Definitely have to recommend this to some friends as well as watching it myself.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 8:56 PM on February 2, 2023

ooooooooo
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:01 PM on February 2, 2023

Geveldig! Vermeer is one of the few revered artists whose work really makes my heart ache - his people are so PEOPLE, the moments of their life not still at all, but warm and real. Thank you for sharing!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:05 PM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

I recommend the 2013 documentary Tim's Vermeer, if you haven't had the opportunity to watch it yet.
posted by fairmettle at 9:07 PM on February 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Kudos on the tags.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:22 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Got my ticket (gloats)
posted by Phanx at 1:16 AM on February 3, 2023

I thought it was sold out but there are plenty of tickets still available.

If you are a Vermeer fan, you should also make your way down to Delft where he worked. It is a pretty little town too. The Prinsenhof in Delft has an exhibition which is running at the same time as the Rijksmuseum one. It covers Vermeer's time in Delft, his workshop, his peers and so on.
posted by vacapinta at 1:52 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

I initially wrote a whole long thing about what I learned and discovered here through the guided virtual tour, having only loosely even heard about Vermeer and then years ago heard about the (credit upthread to fairmettle for mentioning it ) Tim's Vermeer doc that I still haven't watched (my rant was mostly about hearing Penn Jillette over-explain on one of his old podcasts his love for that doc and his friend who made it) and then I realized I have nothing to add to this discussion except this :

Wow. What a fantastic way to experience a gallery. Frankly, I don't think I'd gain much more from seeing it in person as I just did watching the guided tour from someone explaining the things I'd never have noticed.

Thank you theory for sharing this here. Frankly, I hope more museums do something similar and I'm fine with FPPs about every single one of them.
posted by revmitcz at 3:52 AM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Delft also has a dedicated Vermeer centre.

The Rijksmuseum exhibition is a long way from selling out, there are tickets available for almost all days.
posted by daveje at 4:52 AM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I was lucky enough to go to the National Gallery (in Washington DC) for their "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry" (drove through a snowstorm to get there) exhibit in 2018 and I will definitely set aside some time this very chilly weekend to listen to Stephen Fry explain to me Vermeers. Thank you!
posted by which_chick at 5:45 AM on February 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

We've got tickets for next week. Hey Amsterdam!
posted by Keith Talent at 8:58 AM on February 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

What an amazing way to do a guided tour. Something about the narration and the music triggers the theater of my mind, fills out my experience in a way I can't quite put my finger on.

Seconding the recommendation to click on the paintings themselves outside the tour. I appreciate the depth of the inspection, and how they interconnect details and techniques from different paintings.

The Milkmaid is an extraordinary painting. So quietly magnificent. Seeing the underdrawing in the research emphasizes how he subtly broke the tangent of the skirt and table with one chunk of perfectly placed bread.

Here's further analysis on this particular painting if you want to hear more about it.
posted by ishmael at 9:01 AM on February 3, 2023

Loyola University Museum of Art in downtown Chicago did an exhibition of all the known paintings of Caravaggio, in full size digital prints, about 15 years ago. It was called an 'impossible exhibit' or something similar. I have always wished the same for the Vermeer collection of his known collection.

It was really nice to see Caravaggio's Opera in one place arranged chronologically. Especially the Salome and Judith beheading Holofernes, in life size print.

Thanks for the link to the digital collection from this exhibition. Also, the EU is putting up a giant digital library of all the collections from various museums in Europe, called Europeana; that I go digging into from time to time. I am now doing the Albertina collection of Durer prints deep dive. This is the Vermeer list from Europeana.

I am so happy that we are living in a time when we can see all this from the comfort of our homes.
posted by indianbadger1 at 9:40 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Is there a way to look at a full painting without the explanatory markers?

Really amazing presentation.
posted by latkes at 4:02 PM on February 3, 2023

latkes, If you open the painting by itself (the top option- "open the painting") and don't move your mouse, the research markers disappear.
posted by ishmael at 9:02 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]